The Victorian Labor government is introducing new laws allowing trans, gender diverse and Intersex Victorians the option to change the sex on their birth certificate without undergoing gender reassignment surgery.

If passed by parliament, the laws will allow applicants to self-nominate the sex listed on their birth registration as male, female or any other gender diverse or non-binary descriptor of their choice.

The southern Indian city of Chennai is facing a water shortage crisis after its four main water reservoirs ran completely dry.

Residents have queued for hours to get water from government tanks, with the situation prompting clashes to break out between residents over water-sharing in the neighbourhood.

The city’s water department is identifying and extracting water from quarries in an attempt to resolve the dire situation, but officials say only rainfall can bring an end to the crisis.

Scientists fear the global climate crisis is accelerating faster than predicted after permafrost at outposts in the Canadian Arctic melted 70 years earlier than expected.

A professor of geophysics at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Vladimir Romanovsky, says the melted permafrost indicates the climate is now warmer than at any point in the past 5000 years.

The executive director of Greenpeace International, Jennifer Morgan, says the premature thawing is a clear signal economies must be immediately decarbonised.

An Irish family at risk of being deported because of their son’s cystic fibrosis has been given renewed hope with news their application for permanent residency will be reviewed.

The child was deemed a “burden” to taxpayers, as treatment for his condition exceeds $40,000 per year, which is not allowed under Australian migration law.

The mother of the child, Christine Hyde, says the family's biggest concern was their child’s medication was not readily available in Ireland and hoped their application for permanent residency would be approved.

Lawyers representing sacked Ipswich City Councillors have argued they should be considered “employees” in an effort to win compensation for unfair dismissal.

Tony Morris, QC, says the fact councillors received salaries, superannuation and other perks meant they were employees of the Council and should be covered by the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission.

Andrew Herbert, QC, representing Ipswich City Council, says it would be ‘legal nonsense’ for councillors to be considered both employer and employee, and wants the case dismissed.

Traffic was blocked for three hours yesterday morning as authorities worked to remove two protesters who glued themselves to the road on Queen Street in the CBD.

The protesters are from Extinction Rebellion, a movement which began in the UK protesting government inaction on climate change.

The pair are expected to be charged with public nuisance offences and supporters of the protest say Brisbane should expect more civil disobedience protests in the coming weeks and months.

Queensland Environment Minister Leeanne Enoch says she is devastated after the approval of the Adani coal mine.

The comments were made by the minister at an indigenous festival at Yarrabah, near Cairns, over the weekend, after an activist asked for her opinion.

The Minister is the first indigenous woman to be elected to the Queensland parliament.

A proposed $2 billion Indigenous-led coal-fired power station in Collinsville North Queensland, developed by Brisbane-based Indigenous company Shine Energy, shall revive one of the countries oldest mining towns.

If the project is given the go-ahead, around 2,000 jobs would be created during the construction phase and 600 once operations begin, with a focus on Indigenous employment.